Costa Rica is currently experiencing a road war. Cyclists’ associations have been calling for new laws and the expansion of the cycling infrastructure for several years. The reason for this is the high level of danger to which cyclists are exposed on the country’s roads and the frustration at the lack of improvements.
to commemorate the victims of accidents on the roads.
Art installation in San José: Over 3,000 cyclists formed the logo of the campaign to commemorate the victims of accidents on the roads.
The hashtag COMPARTÌ (in German: Teilt) calls on motorists to share streets, squares and urban space with cyclists.
The wheels of the bicycle symbol were constantly in motion.
Call to share: compartí!
Last year, 39 cyclists died in accidents involving cars in San José. In a particularly devastating accident in January 2017, three cyclists in a group of four were killed by a car traveling at excessive speed and a fourth was seriously injured. As a sign of their shock, 7,000 cyclists gathered a few days later, cycled from Parque La Sabana to the scene of the accident and formed the word RESPETO with 1,500 cyclists to draw attention to the rights of cyclists (see also Garten + Landschaft 04/2017). The campaign even caught the attention of the Minister of Transport, who then wanted to develop a new program for cycling in Costa Rica. He did have a 13-kilometre cycle path built, but nothing more has happened since then.
For this reason, the cyclists’ organization Aconvivir called for a second artistic intervention at the end of January 2018. The aim was to once again pay tribute to cyclists in San José and commemorate the victims of the accident. To this end, the participants formed a stylized car over the hashtag #COMPARTÍ (Spanish for “Share!”) on an area measuring 100 x 100 metres, which was transformed into a bicycle symbol in several steps. The message was clear: share the road and urban space with cyclists. 3,000 cyclists took part in the intervention, which was photographed from above and went viral on the internet within minutes.
The organizers hope that this time the action will not only attract the attention of cyclists, but of all road users. After all, everyone is responsible for the Aconvivir group’s vision: not only should deaths fall, but more people should dare to cycle to work or school.
This article is an excerpt from our new issue Garten + Landschaft 4/2018 on the topic of migration.
Translated from English by Michael Wachholz.